Refrigerator cabinet



July 15, 1952 e. c. HARBISON REFRIGERATOR CABINET Filed Aug. 29, 1946 3Sheets-Sheet 1 His AbbOTIlQH.

Inventor. George. C. Han-bison, b a; 12W;

July 15,1952 6. c. HARBISON REFRIGERATOR CABINET 3 SheeQs-Sheet 2 FiledAug. 29, 1946 Fig.4.

Inventor- George C. Han-bison, by 8mg 2.

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G. 'c. HARBHSON REFRIGERATOR CABINET 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 m Q'm fu a r n f bw im P. .mmgkm July 15, 1952 Filed Aug. 29, 1946 Patented July 1 5, 1952PATENT o-FF ICE r '5 Q EFR GE C B NE J i George-C; Harbison,Erie,Pa.','assignorlto Genw na. i e -eral-Electric 1 '1 i York Company,a corporation of New ApplicationAug'ust 29, 1946,f s'eria1 No. 693,676

My'invention relates to refrigerator cabinets and particularly 'to animproved; arrangement for mounting the cover'for the machinery com-"partment.

' In many present day refrigerators the door is supported from thecabinet only by the hinges and; should the refrigerator be droppedduring shipment, the entire force of the door must be takenby thehinges. It is an object of my invention to provide-"aconstruction'whereby the machinery compartment cover-is so mounted thatthe possibility of misalignment of the door during shipment isminimized."

'lt'is another object of my inventionf'to provide an arrangementfor-'the adjustment of the supports of the machinery compartment coverso thatthe position of the'covermay be adjusted -to"present a uniformgap between the top of the cover and "the bottom of the refrigeratorwhich characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularityin the claims annexed to and'forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention reference may be had to theaccompanying drawingin which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of arefrigerator cabinet provided with amounting arrangement embodying myinvention; Fig. 2 is a view partially broken away taken along the line2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3--3 ofFig. 2; Fig. 4is a sectional view taken along the line 4--4 of Fig. 1;Fig.

' 5. is 'a view partially in section taken generally along the line 5 -5of Fig.3; Fig. 6 is an eleval'tion view of a portion of the refrigeratorcabinet provided with an alternative mounting arr'angement 'for themachinery compartment cover; Fig."7 is a front elevation view partly insection; showing the mounting arrangement; and Fig. 8 is a sideelevation view.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown in Fig. 1 a refrigerator cabinetI having a food storage compartment closed by. a door 2 and a machinerycompartment closed by a cover 3,

v 4 Claims. (Cl. 312237) composed of two parts 4 and 5. provided with ahandle 6.

Referring now'to-Fig. 2, I have shown the refrigerator fcabinet;provided withyside walls I and 8-and,a back wall, shown at' 9 in Fig. 4,all constructed of sheet-metal. The bottom edges of the side walls arebent inwardly and upwardly as indicated-at lfl and H to provide The dooris rigidity. Braces--12 and'l3 are provided at the rear corners." Anglemembers l4 and I5 at the front andrear of the cabinet respectivel'yflareprovided to support the refrigerating machinery. The frontopening-of-the machinery compartmerit is closed by the cover 3. Toprovide adequate ventilation of the refrigerating machinery I haveconstructed thefc'overfiwith suitable ventilating openings indicated-generally by 16. -Referring now to Fig. '3 I have shown'details of oneform 'of my improved arrangementfor mountingthe "machinery compartmentcover;

'an arrangement forsupportingand leveling the refrigerator cabinet isalso shown. A glider support I! isbolt'ed orwelded ,to a verticalrein-.is provided with a horizontal portion 19.

forcing member [8, which inturn is secured to the refrigerator cabinet.-The. glider support I! In order to level the refrigerator cabinetv andfacilitate moving of thecabinet, an adjustable glider or foot -member.20 is screwed into a threaded opening. in the. portion 19 of. the glidersupport. A similar glider is provided at. the other front corner of thecabinet. Movement of these gliders allows raising or loweringfof thefront of the cabinet andthereby permitsthe refrigerator cabinet torbeproperly leveled.

The front support 14 for the refrigerating machinery is welded totheglider support 11. .;The portion 4 of the machinery compartment cover 3is provided with a reinforcing plate 2 ljtowhich is secured a channelmember 22. When the machinery compartment cover is in its assembledposition the channel member 22 1s supported on the upper surface of anadjustable a gle bracket or support23. This bracket is fastened tothereinforcing member I8 by bolts 24 and 25, or any other suitablefastening devices. The bracket 23 is provided with elongated slots 26and 21 for the purpose of permitting adjustment of the height of thebracket. A second bracket 28, which serves as a latch strike, isconnected to the bracket 23 to permit initial adjustment of the positionof the strike relative to the bracket 23 in a manner which will bedescribed later. In order to provide'for simultaneous adjustment of thevertical position of bracket 23 and strike 28 a cam 29. is rotatablymounted on the reinforcable mounting device.

"reinforcing member ing member l8 by a bolt 30, or any other suit- Thecam 29 has several fiat surfaces at different distances from its centerof rotation. Hence by presenting any one of these surfaces to the bottomof the bracket 23 the vertical position of bracket 23 and also of thestrike. 28, which is secured to bracket 23, may be adjusted. In'addition to adjusting the position of the bracket 23 and strike 28 thecam also assists the bolts 24 and 25 in holding the bracket and strikein; the adjusted position.

It will be noted that Fig. 4 covers the mounting arrangement at theopposite side ofthe cabinet from that shown in Fig. 3. However, sincesimilar mounting arrangements are used at each end, the same numeralshave been applied to corresponding parts in both figures. Referring nowto Fig. 4, it can be seen that the strike. 28 is mounted on the bracket23 by a lip 3| whichfits in a hole 32in the bracket 23 and by a bolt 33which passes through the strikev28 and the bracket 23. In ordertorpr'ovide for adjustment of the initial position of strike relative tobracket,

7 ber 22are shown. The channel 40, which sup-.

the strike is provided with a slot 34..through which the bolt 53 passes.The strike can be pivotedto a limited extent about its lip 3| andthenfinally be clamped in the desired position by the bolt 33. Althougha strike which is ad justably mounted on the bracket 23 is shown, thestrike may be fixed to this bracket.

From this figure it can be more clearly seen that themachinerycompartment cover 3 is constructed of the two separate portions4. and 5.

Theseportions are connected together by any suitable fastening devices,such as bolts, two of" which are indicatedas 35 and 36. The frontsurface of theportion, 5 is recessed somewhat from the front surface ofthe portion 4 in order to provide suitable ventilating openings for. thepassage of air to and from the machinery compartment. These ventilatingopenings have been v indicated generally by I6 in Fig. 2 and the'edgeiof one such opening is indicated in Fig. 4 by the bent up end 31 of theportion 4 of the machinery compartment cover. Inorder to latch the coverin closed position a spring strip 38 having an upwardly extendingportion 39 is provided. The spring strip 38 is fastened to a channel 40which is secured at its ends to the inner top and bottom surfaces of theportion 4 of the cover 3. The upwardly extending portion 39 cooperateswith the strike 28 to latch the cover in closed position.

The door 2 is shown in Figj imounted directly above the machinerycompartment. cover '3. In order to seal the food storage compartmentwhen the door is in the closed position, a sealing gasket 4| isprovided. When the door is closed this gasket fits fiushagainst thefront surface'fiZ of the cabinet. The door is supported only by its.

hinges. In order that any downward shock to shipment will then betransmitted through the forcetransmitting members or pads 53, themachinery compartment cover 3, the reinforcing plateyzlychan'nel 22, andthe bracket 23 to the IS. The force is furthrough the glider support I!andthe gliderZll v to the surface on which the cabinet rests. In thisway the shock is taken by the surface on which the cabinet rests, andthe possibility of. misalignment of the door during shipment is-minimiZed. i 1

Fig. 5 shows a jplan view of the supporting and latching arrangement andclarifies the actual details of construction previously described inconnection with Figs. 3 and 4. Referring to Fig. 5 the reinforcing plate2| and the channel memports the spring latch 38, and the upwardlyextending portion 39 of this latch are also shown in this figure. Aportion of one of the ventilating openings 16 of the cover 3 isillustrated in Fig. 5.

, In Fig- 6 I have shown an alternative mounting arrangement for themachinery compartment cover. In this figure there is illustrated a re-"frigerator door 46 and amachinery compartment cover 47 mounted directlybelow the refrigerator door. As described in connection with thepreceding construction the machinery compartment cover is composed oftwo sections 48 ands49,

which .are secured together as in the previous partment cover. ,Where itis ,desiredtogprovide maximum support for the door-during shipment suchan arrangement ispreferred; Whileanot shown in Fig. 6 it will beapparent that forsupporting the door during shipment to'preventmisalignment in accordance with the objects'of this invention one ormore hard fiber pads, similar to the pad 43 illustrated in Fig. 4, areinserted between the lower surface of the door and the upper surface ofthe machinery compartment cover in the form of invention disclosed inFigs.

Referring now to Fig. 7 I have shown'a vertical reinforcing member 5!which supports the refrigerator cabinet Thelower portion of the verticalreinforcing member 5| is bent laterally to provide a horizontal portion52. An adjustable glider 53 is-threadedinto an opening in the horizontalportion 52 to provide for leveling of the cabinetin the same manner ashas been previously described. A rearwardly extending portion 54,'asshown in Fig. 8, is used as a supportfor an angle member 55 upon whichthe front edge of the refrigerating machinery rests. The angle member55' is providedwith an car 56 whichis welded to the vertical reinforcingmember 5| to lend additional support to the angle member 55. A channelmember 51 is weldedto the underside of the top surface of the portiontSjof the machinerycompartmentcover. When the machinery compartmentcover is assembled in position this channel member 51 is supported onthetop surface of an adjustable bracket'jor support 58. The bracket 58is' secured to the vertical reinforcingmember 5| by bolts 59 'an'd'60 orby any other suitable fastening arrangement. A second bracket 6!, whichserves as a latch strike, is welded or otherwise secured to thereinfo'rcing member 5! The strike cooperates'with a latch to hold themachinery compartment cover in position, as will be described more fullyin connection with Fig, 8.

Referring now to Fig. 8 it can be seen that the bracket 58 is providedwith inclined slots 62 and 63. These inclined slots are provided so thatthe height of the bracket 58 may be varied by shifting the position ofthe bracket relative to the reinforcing member along the slots. In orderto latch the cover in closed position, a spring strip 64 having anupwardly extending portion 65 is provided. The spring strip is fastenedto a channel 66 which is secured to the lower inner surface of theportion 48 of the machinery compartment cover. The upwardly extendingportion 65 cooperates with an inturned portion 61 of the strike 6| tolatch the cover in closed position.

While I have shown specific embodiments of my invention, I do not desiremy invention to be limited to the particular construction shown anddescribed, and I intend, in the appended claims, to cover allmodifications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

-What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. A cabinet for refrigerators having two vertically spaced openingstherein, a door for the upper one of said openings, a cover for thelower one of said openings, said door having a horizontal lower surface,said cover having a horizontal upper surface spaced from said lowersurface of said door, a vertical cabinet reinforcing member adjacentsaid lower opening arranged to support the weight of said cabinet, afoot member mounted on said reinforcing member for supporting saidcabinet, a support for said cover, and means for mounting said supporton said reinforcing member, at least one pad being inserted between saidlower surface of said door and said upper surface of said cover wherebyshock during shipment is transmitted from said door through said pad andsaid reinforcing member to said foot member.

2. A cabinet for refrigerators having two vertically spaced openingstherein, a door for the upper one of said openings, a cover for thelower one of said openings, said door having a horizontal lower surface,said cover having a horizontal upper surface spaced from said lowersurface of said door, a vertical cabinet reinforcing member adjacentsaid lower opening arranged to support the weight of said cabinet, afoot member mounted on said reinforcing member for supporting saidcabinet, a support for said cover, and means for adjustably mountingsaid support on said reinforcing member, at least one pad being insertedbetween said lower surface of said door and said upper surface of saidcover whereby shock during shipment is transmitted from said doorthrough said pad and said reinforcing member to said foot member.

v3. A cabinet for refrigerators having two vertically spaced openingstherein, a door for the upper one of said openings, a cover for thelower one of said openings, said door having a horizontal lower surface,said cover having a horizontal upper surface spaced from said lowersurface of said door, a vertical cabinet reinforcing member adjacentsaid lower opening arranged to support the weight of said cabinet, afoot member mounted on said reinforcing member for supporting saidcabinet, 2. support for said cover having an inclined slot therein, saidsupport being mounted on said reinforcing member, and means extendingthrough said inclined slot for adjusting the position of said support,at least one pad being inserted between said lower surface of said doorand said upper surface of said cover whereby shock during shipmentis'transmitted from said door through said pad and said reinforcingmember to said foot member.

4. A cabinet for refrigerators having two vertically spaced openingstherein, a door for the upper one of said openings, a cover for thelower one of said openings, said door having a horizontal lower surface,said cover having a horizontal upper surface spaced from said lowersurface of said door, a plurality of supporting and adjusting assembliesfor said cover, one assembly being arranged adjacent each side of saidlower opening, each assembly comprising a vertical cabinet reinforcingmember arranged to support the weight of said cabinet and a foot membermounted on said reinforcing member for supporting said cabinet and asupport for said cover mounted on said reinforcing member, a pluralityof pads being inserted between said lower surface of said door and saidupper surface of said cover whereby shock during shipment is transmittedfrom said door through said pads and said reinforcing members to saidfoot members.

GEORGE C. HARBISON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

